Deborah Kafoury

Deborah Kafoury
Chair of the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners
In office
January 8, 2015 – December 31, 2022
Preceded byMarissa Madrigal
Succeeded byJessica Vega Pederson
Member of the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners
from the 1st district
In office
January 1, 2009 – October 18, 2013
Preceded byMaria Rojo de Steffey
Succeeded byLiesl Wendt
Member of the Oregon House of Representatives
In office
January 1999 – January 2005
Preceded byMargaret Carter
Succeeded byChip Shields
Personal details
Born (1967-08-19) August 19, 1967 (age 57)
Walla Walla, Washington, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
RelativesStephen Kafoury (father)
Gretchen Kafoury (mother)
EducationWhitman College (BA)

Deborah Kafoury (born August 19, 1967) is a politician in the U.S. state of Oregon.

Born in Walla Walla, Washington, Kafoury received her bachelor's degree from Whitman College.[1] She was the chair of the Multnomah County Commission, where she succeeded Jeff Cogen.[2] She previously held a seat on the commission, which she resigned in October 2013 in order to run for chair in the May 2014 election.[3][4] She noted her work on renovations to the Sellwood Bridge as something she would continue as chair,[3] and pushed for the passage of Metro's 10-year, $2.4 billion homeless services measure.[5]

Kafoury was a founder of the young-voter mobilization nonprofit X-PAC[6] and served three terms in the Oregon House of Representatives, from 1999 to 2005, including a leadership role in the Democratic Party caucus.[7]

She is the daughter of Stephen Kafoury and the late Gretchen Kafoury. She is also the first cousin of Trevor Kafoury, formerly the VP of commercial real estate brokerage CBRE in Portland, Oregon.[8]

  1. ^ "Project Vote Smart - The Voter's Self Defense System". Project Vote Smart. Archived from the original on 2014-05-18. Retrieved 2014-05-17.
  2. ^ "Multnomah County Chair's race: Deborah Kafoury wins both races (election results)". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on 2014-07-08. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
  3. ^ a b Cisneros, Sergio (October 22, 2013). "Kafoury Files To Run For Multnomah County Chair". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Archived from the original on October 31, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
  4. ^ House, Kelly (October 22, 2013). "Multnomah County Chair race: Deborah Kafoury files candidacy paperwork". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on November 1, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
  5. ^ "Deborah Kafoury's tenure as Multnomah County chair defined by success, shortfalls at taming homelessness". The Oregonian. January 3, 2023. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
  6. ^ "Will family ties hinder or help Kafoury?". Portland Tribune. April 17, 2014. Archived from the original on August 7, 2021. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  7. ^ Law, Steve (September 12, 2013). "Kafoury leans in to county chair race". Portland Tribune. Archived from the original on September 14, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
  8. ^ "Archived copy". www.bizjournals.com. Archived from the original on 2015-04-18. Retrieved 2023-02-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)